Former Georgian Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia stated during a court hearing that he does not consider his remarks to be a crime and views a change of the current government as the only way out of the country’s current situation. During the trial, Judge Romeo Tkeshelashvili asked Akhalaia whether he pleaded guilty to the charges. In response, the former minister stated that he did not understand why his words could be considered a criminal offense.
“If a government is a dictatorship, overthrowing it is a legitimate right of citizens,” Akhalaia said.
According to him, Georgian legislation does not view the overthrow of a government in itself as a crime, and his statements are an expression of his personal position rather than a call to specific actions.
“I am not calling on people to do anything. I am simply expressing my opinion,” he noted.
Akhalaia also stated that, in his opinion, the current government is a dictatorship, and Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, understands that losing power would mean political defeat for him.
“Ivanishvili knows better than I do that his ouster from power means his overthrow,” the former minister stated.
The basis for launching the case against him was a phrase he uttered in court: “I believe that Bidzina Ivanishvili and his government must be overthrown.”
Bacho Akhalaia is charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for liability for public calls for the violent change of the constitutional order and the overthrow of state power.
The maximum penalty under this article is up to three years in prison. The trial is ongoing.